Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-09-06
SPEECH Or WRITING.
In which OF the I've Does Language
CGnsis'!-Spelling the Mere
SelTSn; OF Sound.
Tracing tns.,;h 10 is Source and Re
moving KS Simplicity and NIsor


the word IS spoken-so tEa. II fact the .
represented language shall make is let /
ts-s strictly match the true language and /
It's sounds he opponents of sry change .
forget two things. Taey forget Is. the
very distinction just made. They forget, |
in short, what language is. Language IS |
and Arrays hss been : matter Of the .
tongue and tle ear. The very name of ,
ISngusge shows taa. !. IS from tie /
Latin word for tongue. liz fact, t1s two |
words probably had ore origin in the /
cradle of human, or ST least EuropeSn !
speech, as Of Elropssn races, Indis. |
When we speak, therefore, OF humsn /
/ language we mean the offspring o. the
/ human tongue, not OF the pen or pencil I
or s stylus. The latter is the mere
representation Of language, not the
| language itself This has always been
made by mankind at first hand, by is
| tongue and It's lips, IS the agents OF lis
/ brain, no. by its scholars a1d its writer's.
/ And as languages have always UGen so
/ made il the first instance, 50 also have
! they ever been rCmadc, or modified, oy
/ the mass q speaking humanity; not 1y
/ those who stand by win the pen and
merely record whist the common people
| DO with brain and tongue and Zip IN the
/ expression 81 their will.
Il is thus that the EaGlis1 language to-
I day is il process of modification IN the
very mouths OF tn hundreds millions
who speak if, TO the end Of its becoming
as E: al instrument Of race power for the
thousand millions that will sQeak K Is it
was in S1ekespeare's Day TO the scant
millions who the spoke K. speech is
4 rH g
t. can MT re sJdiCsttd u
favor Of writing II it wc.-j.
Writing is but 3 description OF language,
2 copy of it, c mere representation, as
the portrait is of the nan; and TO De even
this faithfully il must attend closely 70
every sound Of true laI glage Gzd MAKE lts
signs, It's characters, its letCers, ii. those
sounds as accurately and uniformly as
possible. Il must have DO less, no more,
letters tnan there are sounds to be repre-
ssnted. It must follow the behests
OF speech IS absolutely IS does the sun
those Of Terrestrial OBJECTS when i,
photographs these. IL mast written
languages this duty mas always been
= recognized. Sound has dictated their
formation from the outset and preserved
them from going very far Gstrsy in the
representation Of it.. Taey hsve been
= mere or lesS plOneuCauy true .ar0u9I
al vicissitUdcs Of manipulation oy 10
sCTiDes and scholars i.tTuSteG Win th2i-
preservation il the records OF nations.
! Bu- the English language Is supposed
10 nave fallen iU.o the hands Of
pharisees es well as scTiOes and scholar;
!, in literature snd become loaded doTI
= with more than its share OF arbitrary, u:
- meaning, silent, impotent letters, which
beside being in the way CT spelling truly
what is poken. are often deceitful, lyin9
: enG treacharoIs from the number 0
~ sounds they counterfeit to the yOUD.
mind or TO the foreigner who would learI
l. glish.
10 be sure, il is Clnime3 that these IN
z terlopiUg letters mesh something il tht
; way OF sound or sense that belonged (
T, the word in which they may Je masquer
!, aiding at some former period Som,
: times they represent sUch s fact. Blu
O whist if they do: 1t is all il the dictIon
Y aries, in the history of the word
: and should be lef. there. Tn
n false letters themselves in tn
:, word as 1T present eXistin!
!, in mems mouths do anything but repre-
:, sent that WORD, which 5 the reignjn:
= king in its line, 6nd is only insulted ,,
= their usurpati1n 81 3 silent plaCe anon!
n its sounds But there IS smother side Z
. this claim OF historic representation.
= is Well known that there ma
n been 3 vast amount Of tsmpering il tn
o past BY pedant5 with the written words 0
9 the language, TO make them expires
: more than the sounds OF current speech
Notions IS to this, that and the other re
4 lationship of g word to other words il
c the same or $ different language, or @
q the same or a different age, have led sue
= pedqnts TO tinker its spelling to sui
themselves. Everybody knows that crank
sre found as numerOusly in the schola
class as in other classes OF men. VIVA
must, or must not, then nave been tn
= tricks played in this way with the King
- and the Queens and, more than both
= the peoples English, when the people wa
Il not get intelligent enough 10 take note O
, the caprice and vanity of scholars VIII
Il thought they could improve word wit
change of letter now and then, TO ss
nothing Of the literary rasCality OF tn0s
who sometimes made more sweepin
r changes merely to please their own far
l. cies2
10 And this brings up the whole subjec
o of the etymOlogy of the language, whic
- the opponents of simplifcatlon in spell
Ing llluh 10 SO4AS W NC WISChSu tuSIeUl
Now it is conceded that etymology, o
its own derivation, is simply getting 6
the true root or origin OF a wore
not at the whimsical changes it ha
or he'd to suffer ct times from wor
lie fsnciers through the hundreds, perhar
ur thousands, of years OF its life. It wa
y. born in sound, grew up in the form {
a sound, and but for its sound life woul
of have been Gesd long ago. Nothln
~ but lis living continually in Ii
IN mouths Of men, indeed, could say
80 any word from the daily danger of bein
70 mangled or stretched out of the possioi
~ ity of recognition by human carelessne:
\. or ignorance, or Coneit in writing.
~ men had been made without tongues al
n with fingers that were pens or styles, az
no If paper and wax tablets were as pery
- sive as the atmosphere, it might hay
~ been different, and the sCiibes might hay
ba been better content. But the simple fact
~ thst mans speech is intended for inscri.
ho tion first and mostly on the air, as h
= motions and acts are written on the cart
-. snd the waters, to be almost az once o.
w liberated. What he can preserve OF eitht
- for ages is small, and If he would be tru
- or scientific he will make the presery